Something was happening.

“Time to go.” I stepped into my jeans as a lone howl drifted through the air, one beautiful note, wavering in the air. A wolf singing its song. One last placid moment before everything went to hell.

“That’s Logan.” Austin jogged to the door. “He’s reliable and savage, and he has a good head on his shoulders. I put him in the woods along the entrance of the court to let us know if anyone was coming.”

“The basajaun is running from the back. They’re closing us in.”

“Now we’ll get to see if it is one faction or two.”

I didn’t see how it would really matter.

I felt Niamh set foot on Ivy House property, moving as though she wasn’t in a hurry. Knowing her, that meant she felt pressure and was too stubborn to give in to it.

“Niamh is pulling in,” I said. “They must be nearly at her house. I have to get that spell finished off.”

“You better put on that muumuu, too. You might need to fly.”

I breathed through the tremors of anticipation, adrenaline, and fear.

There was no reason to freak out. Even if we couldn’t get those potions off those bodies, I could trigger the house’s defenses. We’d be fine. As long as we were on this property, we’d be good.

“Jessie, come quick,” Ulric said through the newly fixed door.

Austin pulled it open, pausing for a beat to let me through first before following me out.

Ulric led the way without a word, bringing us to the closest bedroom with a view of the front yard. Four people, two men and two women, rolled a large device up the street toward us. Four tree-trunk posts at angles sat on a rolling platform, with a tree trunk at the top holding them all together. Swinging between the legs was a sixth trunk with a pointy end.

“Is that…” I leaned closer to the window. “Is that a battering ram?”

“Time to get your parents to safety,” Austin said, his voice rough. “Time to fight.”

Twenty

Austin watched panic roll across Jess’s face, something that happened right before every major skirmish. It was her sense of Jane reality taking the helm for one brief moment. In the past it had stressed him out. Now he just waited.

A moment later, he was rewarded with what he’d come to expect: the panic faded from her intelligent hazel eyes, and a look of stubborn determination took its place, that attitude also apparent in her clenched jaw and lowered brow. She leaned closer to the window again, her eyes surveying the front yard. Brilliant green grass shone in the late afternoon sun. Pink and blue tulips waved from beside the front path, moved by the light wind. Bushes and hedges stood tall. They were deep in the calm before the storm.

Teams of people emerged from the side yards of the houses up the street, forming what looked like a horde, a mass grouping of armed people in battle leathers. They marched toward Ivy House, sheets of soft, glittering air sliding down on either side of their group, masking their sound and maybe their appearance from the outside world, keeping this fight magical so Janes and Dicks would be none the wiser. Austin was sure there was a sheet behind them as well, pulling tighter and tighter and tighter as they moved toward the house. He also wondered if there was an attack spell woven in there, keeping anyone from slipping out of the mayhem and making a run for it through the spell. He wouldn’t doubt it—they’d want to trap Jess in. They wouldn’t want their prize escaping.

A wave of pure adrenaline washed through him, followed by a heavy dose of rage.

That spell would keep them trapped in as well. With him.

“Jacinta McMillian!” Her father appeared in the doorway. Jess didn’t turn to look back. “Who are all these people in this house? More men with capes showed up. They’re underfoot every time I turn around. And now your mother says there are a whole bunch of people walking this direction from down the street. Look at me when I speak to you.”

“Kinda busy here, Dad.”

“Doing what, looking out the window? This place is like a bus station, Jacinta. If you need some money, your mother and I can lend you some. You don’t need all of these people living here.”

“Didn’t Ulric fill you in about why they’re here?” she asked in a faraway voice. She was likely planning which defenses she would enact to deal with the onslaught from the front. She’d need to set them and run, because the people in the woods were almost certainly about to make their move. Austin didn’t feel much on this property, not like the others, but he could feel that basajaun cutting through the wood, straight for the house, probably with news of an invading army that Ivy House couldn’t feel.

“You can’t house the whole forestry school, Jessie. Didn’t I tell you that earlier? You’re not a hotel.”

Jess straightened up with a clenched jaw. She turned and walked quickly toward her dad, still filling the doorway.

“Dad, they aren’t living here, they are auditioning to join my team. That team is in charge of protecting me and this house. Go look out the front window. That’s what we’re protecting it from. Soon there will be a host collecting out back as well. They’re already hiding in the woods. Both of them want to take me for my magic. Surprise! The house is magical, and now so am I. Life has gotten a little more interesting for me since the divorce.”

“Oh, horseshit. What are you saying, that you live in a place like Willy Wonka’s?”

“Yes, only less fun and with much less chocolate. Come on, it’s time for you and Mom to get to safety.”

She tried to pass him, but his expression had turned stubborn. He clearly didn’t plan on budging.

Before Austin could step in to help, he heard a small electrical sound, like a bug zapper. Her dad jolted, made a sound like “hahorr,” and danced sideways as though on strings in the hands of a drunk puppeteer.

“See what I mean?” She walked through the door. “Things aren’t as they seem.”

“What was that?” her dad called after her.

Austin put his hand on her shoulder as she reached the downstairs landing, turning her to face him. “What do you need from me to help counteract the spell? A somewhat human guinea pig?”

Her eyes softened and she laid a palm on his chest, over his heart. The world paused for a moment as he stared into her beautiful honeycomb eyes. He’d never felt so helpless as he did with her, wanting to feel her touch, wanting to earn her smiles. He was in a bad way. He needed a break from her presence if he wanted to stay sane.

First he had to see her safe.

“You already helped,” she said, her voice velvety smooth. “You and Mr. Tom. I know what I need to do.” She blinked and looked down. “Though I’ll have to figure out how. If you can keep these people off me for long enough, I can tear their spells down, and Ivy House can take up the slack.”

“No sweat,” he said, light as a feather. He was supposed to be the alpha in these parts, taking the command and leading his men and women, but with nothing more than a touch and a request, she’d just assumed the top dog role. His brother would be screaming with laughter right now.

Earl rushed up to Jessie in his purple house sweats. “I’ve gathered everyone on the backyard grass. We’re waiting for you. The basajaun is almost there.”

“I know. I feel him,” she said. “Get my mom and dad into the walls. I’ll ask Ivy House to lock them inside. Make sure they have snacks and a book or something.”

“I am not going into any walls.” Her father marched down the stairs, battle-axe in hand, his features hard.

Jess’s mother followed. “Pete, watch out with that axe. You might fall and cleave your own head in. That thing is dangerous!”

“You got people coming to burn this place down?” Pete asked Jess. “Well, I’ve been in crime-riddled neighborhoods before. I’ve made it through riots. All you need to do is show you’re not the weak one and they’ll find somewhere else to be.”

“Dad!” Jess pointed at the battle-axe. “Go put Jake back! You have no idea what you’re doing with it.”

“Oh, don’t I?” He hefted it. “I can swing one of these as good as any bat. I was MVP of our softball club. I could—”

“That was years ago, Pete,” Martha cut in.

“You guys!” Jess put up her hands. “I don’t have time for this. Dad, you are staying in this house. You are not bringing a battle-axe to a magic fight.”

Pete rolled his eyes. “What about a gun? You got a gun? The second they set foot on your property, they are fair game.”

Jess hesitated. She glanced at Earl. “Do we have a rifle? He’s actually a really good shot.”

“I’m better than he is,” Martha said indignantly.

“Jessie, what’s the hold-up?” Niamh shouted as she walked up the hallway from the back. “They are setting up a battering ram, fer feck’s sakes. What do they think, we have a drawbridge or something? Bunch o’ maggots. They’re all lining up just outside the property. They’ve clearly heard the stories.”

“They’ll have to cross the threshold to use that ram,” Jess murmured, looking at Earl.

“We have a small arsenal, yes,” Earl said. “I keep it locked in my room so the Paddy doesn’t get it and terrorize the tourists with live ammo.”

“Bollocks. I could get an unlicensed firearm without hassle,” Niamh said. “Jessie, let him handle that. Let’s go. Time’s a-wastin’.”

Jess pointed to Earl. “Either get them in the walls or get them armed. Preferably the former.”

Jess jogged down the hall, Austin right behind her. She turned the corner, down another hall, and then they were pushing outside. The gargoyles stood in a line in their gargoyle forms, their wings tucked in to give everyone room. Beside them, with a large space between, stood the shifters in animal form, three wolves, a rat, a bobcat, and a snow leopard standing out front with a dozen others, ready for battle.